micro cuts
by xfucktheglasses
Summary: His hand was cold; the chilling grip of the dead. —Sasuke, Karin.


This was written for **grotesqueries**. Who also had a birthday two days ago.

**micro cuts**

The fire crackled and the wind blew their way, again.

Karin wished they had a solid roof over their heads. Karin wished it wasn't so cold. Karin wished she couldn't see the blood in her hands, still.

Karin wished a lot.

The woods were never inviting; it didn't matter the circumstances its intruders were in. The woods glared, a lot. Those branches—those treetops up high, towering over them and glaring. It was eerie and ominous, but Karin seemed to like it. Yet she still wished they were under a roof.

She wished Juugo would come back.

She even wished Suigetsu would come back.

She wished they were all there, the four of them.

She wished Sasuke wasn't dying.

She wished a lot, didn't she?

Karin bit her lip and poked at the fire, some more. There was nothing wrong with wishing, right, she asked herself almost self-consciously.

Those that regret tend to wish, a lot.

Karin regretted.

She perked up when the coughing began, again; she could practically feel the blood as it splattered. The sound of it, so wet and red and promising, caused a thick shiver to go down her back. But Karin ignored it and limped towards him, into the raggedy tent and to his side.

* * *

Sasuke was pale, with blue lips and purple circles around his eye and he was covered in wraps and blood.

Karin wished he'd wake up so he can bite her, already; so she wouldn't have to worry about him dying when she wasn't looking.

"C'mon," she hissed, making it a point to not stare at his left eye; because there was no left eye to look at. There were no traces of an eye, hiding under those closed eyelids. There was nothing there, but a black void and blood. So much blood. "C'mon, Sasuke, wake up. Wake _up_."

She already had the sleeves of her cloak and her shirt up to her elbow when she heard his croak.

That dead croak.

"K-K….Karin…"

"Yes!" She breathed, heavily, red hair falling over red eyes that stared at red blood. "C'mon, Sasuke, bite me. You're _dying_!"

God, Karin wished she hadn't found Itachi.

She wished she'd failed.

She wished she hadn't been a sensory-nin. She wished she hadn't been recruited. She wished she hadn't met Sasuke.

She wished Sasuke still had a family.

His hand was cold; the chilling grip of the dead. It felt like frostbite, her skin under his weak grip, but Karin ignored it and helped him up; helped him reach her scarred skin and breathed low and fast as he began to sink his teeth. She groaned, her head spinning as some of her chakra disappeared and Sasuke's injuries slowly began to heal.

She was dazed and disoriented as she stared at him. There was blood on his body, but the bruises that she'd counted every hour since she'd found him close to three days ago were completely gone. She was panting by the time he was sitting up, bringing a shaky hand to rub the heel of his palm onto his left—

"Don't."

He paused, sparing her a bleary glance from under his hair.

"Don't," she repeated, lips trembling and glasses slipping down the bridge of her nose. "Th-there's… There's nothing there."

Sasuke didn't seem to understand; he brushed cautious fingertips against his eyes and went completely still at the feeling.

Karin didn't know the feeling. She didn't think she wanted to.

And when the piercing, pain and shock filled screams began, Karin's blood rand cold and she didn't think she would ever hear anything as horribly wrong and aching as that.

* * *

She curled into herself, feeling small and helpless and angry. Her jaw was clenched and her molars continued to grind against each other as she glared at the endless darkness surrounding them.

Karin wished they weren't alone; she wished Suigetsu was here to crack the silence with a snarky joke. She wished he was there to rile her up so they'd argue. She wished Juugo would be by the trees, talking to squirrels and birds. She wished the wraps covering Sasuke's empty left eye socket wasn't there and he was glaring with two eyes instead of one.

Slowly, she turned towards the fire, watching Sasuke with practiced discreteness.

His permanent scowl; his messy dark hair; his pale skin… He was all there. There was blood and there was a lack of shirt and there was a missing eye.

But he was there.

Sasuke was there.

He was alive.

If Karin would have been one to cry, she'd cry right then.

"…I'm sorry."

There was a long silence filled with apprehension and something else. Karin's heartbeat rammed against her ribcage and her head pulsed, but she didn't look away from him.

"For what," he finally replied, emotionless as he stroke up the fire.

For everything.

For wishing too much.

For the weight he carried.

For everything.

For everything.

"For letting you down," she finally said, shrugging a small shoulder.

For wishing she hadn't found Itachi, even if she knew it'd meant everything to him.

He looked over at her, and Karin held his gaze. It was clouded with failure, and hers was probably drowning in regret. And yet…

And yet Karin still thought he was the prettiest person she ever did saw, and she wished—

"Th—" He stared at her for a second longer before he turned his eye back to the fire. "It's not your fault."

And silence consumed them, again.


End file.
